Flow control device



y 1942 F. B. SCHNEIDER I 2,282,889

FLOW CONTROL DEVICE Filed Mar 'ch 20, 1941 ill/11.

Inventor: Fred 18. Schneider;

-fl mun/M by 3% Attorney Patented May 12, 1942 UNE'ED STT QFFICE 2,282,88 FLOW CONTROL DEVICE Fred B. Schneider, Wesleyville, Pa., assignor to General Electric Company, a corporation of New York I Application March 20, 1941, Serial No. 384,233 v 10 Claims.

improved construction and arrangement in a flow control device, and for a consideration of what I believe to be novel and my invention, attention is directed to the following specification and the claims appended thereto.

An application of my invention is in connoction with steam power plants for controlling-the flow of air and other non-condensable gases from a condenser to an air ejector pump. The air ejectors of conductors transport mostly wet air; in some cases almost the total flow is steam. Although this flow control device can be operated in conjunction with a motor driven air p p, greatest advantages with a high pressure steam driven air ejector. It is this application of my invention Which I have elected to illustrate and describe. It is to be understood, however, that this is only by way of example and that the invention may be used wherever found applicable.

In the drawing, Fig. l is a diagrammatic View of a power plant embodying the invention; Fig. 2 is a vertical sectional view through my flow control device, and Fig. 3 is a sectional view taken on line 3-3, Fig. 2.

Referring to the drawing, t indicates diagrammatically an elastic fluid turbine to which elastic fluid, for example steam, is supplied by conduit the described application shows the 5 from a suitable source, such as a steam boiler.

The turbine is shown only diagrammatically, the

valves for controlling the flow of elastic fluid to the turbine and other parts being omitted as they form no part of the present invention. 9 indicates an air ejector pump connected to conduit 5 by pipe IS, .a suitable valve I! being located in pipe II to control the flow of elastic fluid through it. The discharge end l2 of the air ejector pump may be connected in any suitable manner to an ejector condenser as is well understood. The'elastic fluid entering the ejector through pipe 56 is the pumping fluid. The fluid to be pumped enters the ejector through pipe l3. In the present instance, the ejector is used to remove air and other non-condensable gases from condenser i, and to this end the pipe l3 through which the fluid to be pumped is led to the ejector is connected to'the top of condenser as is indicated at IA.

. fluid will have to travel a considerable distance I Located in pipe, I3 is my improved flow control device indicated generally by reference character l5.

It comprises a flat circular or disk shaped casing l6 of suitable diameter andwidth having a tangentially arranged inletopening l1 and a centrally located axially directed outlet opening [8 in one of its sidewalls.

Inlet opening I! is connected to the condenser and outlet opening 58 is connected to the inlet of the air ejector pump .9 as shown in Fig. 1.

tangential opening I1 is a second tangential opening 19 in which is arranged a nozzle 20 connected by a pipe 2] to pumping fluid conduit [0 between valve II and ejector air pump 9. The valve l l in pipe Ill has its stem connected to the upper movable end of a Sylphon bellows 23, the interior of which is connected by pipe 24 to the upper end of condenser 1. This means that the interior of bellows 23 is subjected to the pressure obtaining in condenser l. Surrounding the valve stem of valve II is a spring 25 which acts in a direction to elfect opening of valve H, being arranged between the valve body and the head which is by-passed through conduit 2! m the.

control device I 5.

The operation is as follows: Assuming that" valve I! is closedand that therefore the ejector pump '9 is not in operation, except to permit the passage of a flow of fluid from conduit l3, any such fluid entering the flow control device through inlet l1 and being discharged from it through outlet I8. Because of the tangential arrangement of inlet 11, fluid entering it will assume a circular path of flow tending to flow around the wall of the casing If; As a result a Whirl will beset up in casing l6 whereby the before it reaches outlet opening Is. As a result, there will be but a limited flow through the flow control device. In other words, due to the tangential arrangement of the inlet opening H, the

V fluid entering through opening l1. rotates in.

the disk-like chamber, thereby creating a large pressure drop which is determined by the ratio of the diameters of the outlet opening I8 and the casing It. This, resistance prevents eflectively a large flow of fluid through the fluid control device. It thereby decreases to a minimum the amount of fluid being lost to'the atmosphere Opposite by flowing through conduit l3 and the ejector pump 9. If, now, valve ll is opened pumping fluid is admitted to the air ejector pump 9 and also through conduit 2| to nozzle 20. The fluid from nozzle 20 impinges against the fluid entering through tangential inlet l1, thereby preventing the whirling action of the fluid in casing l6. As a result, the fluid finds its way directly to outlet opening [8 with little disturbance. Accordingly, there is but a small drop in pressure through the flow control device which means that flow can take place through it readily, thereby greatly assisting the operation of the ejector 9. The amount of fluid admitted through a nozzle 20 can be adjusted to counteract in varying degrees the flow through admission opening I! whereby the control can be made to have diiferent degrees of effectiveness. Generally the pumping fluid flowing from conduit 5 through conduits l and 2| to the ejector and to the flow control device is under much higher pressure than the fluid to be pumped through conduit H. In actual construction therefore the nozzle 20 can be made considerably smaller than the conduit IT. This reduces to a minimum the amount of back flow from the control device l through conduit 2! to the ejector when the ejector is not.

operating. In other applications where the nozzle 20 may be almost as large as the inlet area I! a check valve may be installed in conduit 2| which prevents the described back flow.

In the particular application of my invention illustrated in Fig. 1, it is desired that when the pressure in condenser l is above atmospheric pressure the ejector pump 9 should pump or pass little if any vapors from condenser l in order to prevent their large and unnecessary loss to the atmosphere. Accordingly, the arrangement is such that the pressure supplied through pipe 24 to the bellows 23 is suflicient to hold valve II closed until a vacuum has been established in condenser 1. After such vacuum is established, valve I l is opened to operate the air ejector pump 9 and to supply fluid to nozzle: 20, thus decreasing the resistance to flow of the flow control device l5 and permitting the air ejector pump to effect withdrawal of air and other non-condensable gases from the condenser.

Thearrangement has the advantage that the flow control device has no moving mechanical or electrical parts which means that it is not likely to get out of order. Also, it is entirely'automatic in operation. Whenever the air ejector pump 9 is operating the resistance through the flow control device is a minimum and as soon as the air ejector pump 9 stops working the resistance through the flow control device increases automatically to a maximum. The fact that it has no mechanical moving parts makes it especially desirable for use in the handling of corrosive fluids such as may be met with, for example, in chemical plants. The flow control device can be mounted not only vertically as shown in Fig. 1 but also horizontally or at any other angle without affecting its operation.

In controlling flow, the device may be used as a means for apportioning the flow between two fluids, .for example where it is desired to uniformly mix two fluids at difierent rates of flow. Under such circumstances, with a certain rate of flow through nozzle 20, there will be a certain rate of flow through inlet l1 and the total flow'of the two fluids can be increased and decreased proportionately by increasing and decreasing the flow through nozzle 20.

According to the provisions of the patent statutes, I have described the principle of operation of my invention, together with the apparatus which I now consider to be the best embodiment thereof. It is to be understood, however, that the apparatus shown is only illustrative and that the invention may be carried out by other means.

What I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent of the United States is:

1. A flow control device comprising a casing having an inlet opening at an edge wall facing in a direction to direct fluid entering through the inlet opening around the walls of the casing, an outlet opening at its central portion, said casing being free of obstructions between said inlet opening and said outlet opening and a second inlet opening in an edge wall of the casing oppositely disposed with respect to said inlet opening to direct fluid into the casing in opposition to fluid entering through said inlet opening to oppose flow of fluid around the wall of the casing and efiect flow of it directly tothe outlet openmg.

2. A flow control device comprising a circular casing having an inlet opening arranged tangentially to the surrounding circular wall of the casing, an outletv opening in a side wall, said casing being free of obstructions between said inlet opening and said outlet opening and a second inlet opening arranged tangentially to the surrounding circular wall in opposed relation to said first inlet opening and through which fluid may be supplied to the casing in opposition to fluid entering through said first inlet opening.

3. A flow control device comprising a flat circular casing having a discharge opening in a side wall, and opposed tangentially arranged inlet openings-in the surrounding wall, said casing being free of obstructions between said inlet opening and said outlet opening means for supplying fluid, the flow of which is to be controlled, to one of said inlet openings, and means for supplying controlling fluid to the other of said inlet openings.

4. A flow control device comprising a flat circular casing having a discharge opening in a side wall, and opposed tangentially arranged inlet openings opposed relatively to each other in the surrounding wall, said casing being free of obstructions between said inlet opening and said outlet opening means for supplying fluid, the flow of which is to be controlled, to one of said inlet openings, means for supplying controlling fluid to the other of said inlet openings, and means controlled by an operating condition appurtenant to the fluid to be controlled for regulating the supply of controlling fluid.

5. The combination with a pump an operating fluid connection to said pump and a conduit connected to the inlet of the pump, of means for controlling flow through said conduit comprising a casing having a centrally located outlet in one wall, an inlet arranged tangentially to another wall of the casing through which fluid to be pumped is admitted to the casing, said casing being free of obstructions between said inlet and said outlet a second inlet arranged in opposed relation to the first named inlet, and means for supplying controlling fluid to said second inlet in proportion to the flow of operating fluid to said pump to regulate the flow of fluid from said first inlet to said outlet.

6. The combination with a pump having a suction inlet and a supply conduit for supplying pumping fluid to the pump, of a flow control device comprising a casing having a centrally located outlet opening in a wall thereof, a conduit connecting such outlet opening to said suction inlet, an inlet arranged tangentially to another wall of said casing through which fluid to be pumped flows to the control device, a second inlet arranged in opposed relation to the first named inlet for the admission of controlling fluid, j

a source of fluid supply, and valve means controlled by an operating condition appurtenant to the fluid to be pumped for regulating the fluid supply tosaid supply conduit and to said second denser, and valve means controlled by the pressure in the condenser for regulating the supply of pumping fluid to the'ejector pump and of actuating fluid to said second tangentially arranged inlet opening.

8. In combination, a condenser, an ejector pump, a conduit for supplying operating fluid to said ejector pump, a conduit connecting the condenser to the suction inlet of the pump, and a flow control device in said conduit having a tangentially arranged inlet, an outlet. in spacedrelation thereto, and a'second inlet arranged opposite to said first inlet for supplying fluid to the casing in opposition to fluid entering through said tangentially arranged inlet in proportion to the operating fluid supplied to said ejector pump.

9. In combination, a condenser, an ejector pump, an operating fluid supply valve for said pump, means responsive to the pressure within said condenser for controlling said fluid supply valve, a flow control device connected between said ejector pump and said condenser, and means responsive to variations in the flow of operating fluid through said supply valve for varying the flow in said device.

10. In combination, a condenser, an ejector 7 pump, an operating fluid supply valve for reg ulating the fluid supply to said ejector pump,

means to regulate said fluid supply valve in response to the pressure within said condenser, a' fluid control device connected between said con-v denser and said ejector pump arranged to provide normally a high resistance to fluid flow between said condenser and said ejector pump, and

, means responsive to operating fluid supplied to said ejector pump for reducing the resistance to flow of said fluid control device.

- FRE B- S HN I R,

7 CERTIFICATE OF CORRECTION.

Patent No. 2,282,889. May 12, 1912.

I FRED B. SCHNEIDER.

of the above numbered patent requiring correction as follows: Page 1, first column, line 113., for "conductors" read '--condensers--; and that the said Letters Patent should be read with this correction therein that the same Henry Van Arsdale, (Seal) Acting Commissioner OfPatentS; 

